Re: The "two child problem"

[brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>]

At 08:37 7/28/97 -0800, you wrote:
> I am going to out myself and confess that I look forward each week to 
> the arrival (in the Sunday paper) of "Parade" magazine and of the 
> "Ask Marilyn" column that it contains.  Yesterday's column was the 
> type of gem that keeps me hanging in there through months of 
> otherwise uninterrupted silly nonsense.
>
> Marilyn had previously dealt with the following problem:  A man and a 
> woman each have two children.  The man's older child is a son and at 
> least one of the woman's children is a son.  Is either more likely 
> than the other to have two sons?
>
> Marilyn's answer was not very popular. ...
> A. John Mallinckrodt 

I conclude that the woman was somewhat more 
likely to have two sons.

I will withold the logic for a while for other folk to play with it.
Regards
brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>
Altus OK